For the ears, you can listen to an audio recording of this presentation. [high fidelity audio playable under all personal computer operating systems via VLC media player, Microsoft Windows Media Player with the Xiph.org codecs for FLAC et al, OS X QuickTime with the XiphQT plugin, etc., on many Android-based mobile devices, and on iOS-based mobile devices via apps such as FLAC Player or Golden Ear]

Generation Titles

• The Greatest Generation- pre 1928
• The Silent Generation- 1928-1945
• The Baby Boomer- 1946-1964
• Generation X- 1964-1979
• Millennials- 1980-2000

Generation X

• 1964-1980
• Defined mostly in response to Baby Boom generation
• Stereotypes v. Reality

Millennials

• 1980-2000
• Possibly largest generation in history
• Pew Forum: “Connected. Confident. Open to Change.”

Do You Sleep with Your Cell Phone?

Percentage who have ever placed their cell phone on or right next to their bed while sleeping.

Millennial Attitudes Towards Church

• Most religiously unaffiliated generation

• Least likely to go to church services

• Surprisingly traditional in religious beliefs

http://www.pewforum.org/age/religion-among-the-millennials.aspx

National Study on Youth and Religion

1. Most American teenagers have a positive view of religion but otherwise don’t give it much thought.
2. Most teenagers mirror their parents’ religious faith
3. Teenagers lack a theological language with which to express their faith and interpret their experience of the world.
4. A minority of American teenagers — but a significant minority — say religious faith is important and that it makes a difference in their lives.
5. Many teenagers enact and espouse a religious outlook that is distinct from traditional teachings of most world religions — an outlook called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

Dean, Kenda Creasy. Almost Christian, Oxford University Press, 2010.

The Congregation and Young Adults

• Positives:
  • High, steady attendance sends the message of a well-attended, thriving religious experience
  • Lack of particular denominational affiliation can be a welcoming attribute
  • Liturgy speaks to the mystery of religious experience
  • Both distinctive as a Christian worship experience and community, but diverse and open to a variety of ideas and backgrounds
  • Young adults in visible leadership positions
• Challenges:
  • Tendency towards anonymity
  • Lack of family and geographic anchors
  • No well developed system of social and educational opportunities specifically for young adults

The Congregation and Young Adults

• Ways Forward:
  • Personal welcome and invitations
  • Start from within
  • Balance of generation-specific and intergenerational opportunities